Mile of Music: Chicago trio Mutts put it all on the line

Aug. 7, 2013

Mutts / Contributed

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Post-Crescent Media

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For a free download of a 13-track mix from Mutts’ catalog, head to download.muttsmusic.com.

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Mutts will be in concert at 10 p.m. Thursday at Anduzzi’s outdoor patio. The show is free.

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Usually, when somebody says they’ve laid everything on the line to accomplish a goal, it’s hyperbole.

That’s not the case for Mutts.

In order for the trio of veteran Chicago session players to see through their goal of recording a pair of albums in 2012, 31-year-old Mike Maimone and his two 29-year-old bandmates drained their bank accounts, maxed out their credit cards and hoped the magic they found in the recording studio would eventually dig them out of debt.

Mutts essentially put everything they had — along with a much-needed boost from a Kickstarter campaign — into the making of 2012’s “Separation Anxiety” and 2013’s “Object Permanence.” The albums haven’t led to fame and fortune, but Maimone and company are managing to pay their bills, do what they love on a mostly full-time basis and stand proud of the work they’ve done.

“It’s stressful. There’s definitely things I can’t do because I have no money,” said Maimone on a call from Chicago. “But at the same time every week I get some sort of pick-me-up from somebody who says our music did something for them or we inspire them to make music.”

Mutts formed in 2009 after Maimone, who sings and plays keys, got to know bassist Bob Buckstaff while touring with indie rock outfit Company of Thieves. The group was opening for pop punk band the Plain White T’s, and after their opening set, Maimone and Buckstaff would skip out on the headliners and bond over beers and their mutual appreciation for raw, personal rock and roll records.

In the years since, Mutts has put three full-length albums and three EPs to tape, each time working in a very improvisational, off-the-cuff manner in studio — embracing that same raw style that inspired the band in the first place.

And for the most part, the financial situation has stabilized since the big gamble of 2012.

“There are still moments, like I’d say there were probably three times last year and maybe once or twice this year where it comes down to the end of the month and I’m looking at my bills and I have no room on my credit card and maybe like 12 bucks in my bank account and I’m like, I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” Maimone said.

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Appropriately named Mutts, the band is made up of three well-traveled session players who just wanted the chance to get together and release the music they’d had boiling inside them while performing in other peoples’ bands.

What they’ve produced is a wacky breed of noise — a filthy rock sound with heavy piano, charging guitars and Tom Waits-like howls.

“I’m not sure that (a diverse mix of sounds) is something we strive for but I think it’s the result of us being such flexible players. Especially it comes a lot from Bob because he plays string bass, electric bass, guitar. He’s played in heavy bands, he’s played in mellow indie pop bands,” Maimone said. “Same thing with me. I’ve played in very poppy bands, legit reggae bands, kind of across the board.”

The full slate of Mutts releases had, until recently, been available for free both at live shows and online. They’ve since changed their distribution approach, charging a few dollars for their releases. The change, of course, was part (obvious) financial stress and part philosophy.

“I think I listen to the stuff that I paid for first,” Maimone said. “It’s like growing up before downloads were an option, I would take my allowance and buy a CD and just know that that ridiculous 15 or 20 bucks that I’d have to spend on a CD, that would be what I was going to devour for the next couple weeks. I invested in this. This could have been a Ninja Turtle or something.”

Mutts still offer a collection of songs from their catalog as a freebie at some gigs and online, and Maimone said it’s much more thrilling to see a herd of people walk away with the free CD than to have just a few people pay for one.

“We’ll always have something for free,” he said. “We know how it feels to be broke and want to buy a band’s music and not be able to.”